In Seoul: some hours of prayer and silence

Over thirty young adults came together on 29-30 March for some hours of prayer and silence at the Columban Mission Centre at Seoul. They were young professionals or students from very different backgrounds…. For the non-Koreans who have not been in the country for very long, the big challenge is learning the language. A “pause” was very welcome, for example, for someone who had come to work in Korea in order to support his family in the Philippines. Like many of his compatriots, he is strongly attached to the Church and every weekend he comes to Seoul, to a parish where Filipinos gather. He belongs to an association that publishes a journal which helps foreign workers to get to know better the country where they are living: its administration, what their rights are, and so on.… For him, as for a young Malaysian studying in Korea, being far away from his family is a real trial. Both of them are Asian but they realize how much Asia is made up of many different cultures. This can be a real difficulty; yet the Letter from Cochabamba refers to this diversity as “bearing within it the promise of mutual enrichment and joy.” For the young Koreans who are normally caught up in the intense rhythm of the great metropolis, a weekend like this was an opportunity to get their breath back and work out their priorities